


Up to No Good

by Schuyler



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-07-04
Updated: 2004-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:49:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4106425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schuyler/pseuds/Schuyler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's no way that Draco Malfoy is on the up-and-up, Hogwarts Professor or no.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Up to No Good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilviaKundera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilviaKundera/gifts).



> Written for Melle's Mistletoe Magic challenge. i was assigned H/D (a pairing I never thought I'd write) and the added element of stalking. turns out it was for Silvia, so this is for her.

Ten years at the Dursleys and seven years squaring off against Voldemort, followed by eight years of much deserved relaxation. Harry had traveled a bit, he'd done some Ministry work, he'd done a single season playing professional Quidditch, he'd posed for his own Chocolate Frog card, and he'd spent the better part of six months lying on the couch at Sirius and Remus' and reading action novels when Headmaster McGonagall had come by for tea and to ask him if he would consider taking the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. It was an honor, he couldn't deny that, but he still talked it over with those closest to him. Remus and Sirius thought he should take it, but Harry suspected they just wanted him off their sofa. Hermione said it would be an excellent opportunity and Ron thought it might be a kick, so he took it. 

Since the beginning of Harry's years at Hogwarts, the school had become increasingly insular. School matters were kept private and there was very little news of the castle that got into the public knowledge. Harry didn't really think about this until he was riding across the lake with the Headmaster and had to ask, "Who's the Head of Gryffindor?" 

"Professor Longbottom was the senior Gryffindor faculty member when Headmaster Dumbledore retired." And Harry's mind boggled. Neville Longbottom? Head of the finest house at Hogwarts? But, as Hermione was fond of reminding him, "People change, Harry". 

As she walked him down the empty corridors to his classroom and the private chambers beyond it, McGonagall filled him in on how the Defense courses had been progressing. "Professor Robertson was a disaster. The incoming Seventh Years have had five Defense professors. I am hoping that you will bring some stability to the position, Professor Potter." And it was the first time anyone had called him that, seriously. He smiled at that, happy to be home again, and went into his classroom. 

*

He didn't see Neville until dinnertime, just the faculty and the prefects in the Great Hall and Neville came up to sit beside him. "Hello, Harry!" He was just as bright and pleasant as he'd been fifteen years ago. "Are you settling in all right?" 

"I am, thanks. I was just noticing the view from up here." 

"A rush, isn't it? Your first night up here. Wait until the students get here. Then you have to remember to look all stiff and important." Neville tucked into his baked cod. 

"Sorry, I'm late." And there was Draco Malfoy, sliding into the seat beside Neville. Now this Harry had known, this Harry had thrown a fit about when he heard. Draco Malfoy being asked to teach Potions, now that Professor Snape had gone into the private sector. Didn't matter which side he was on, Draco Malfoy was not to be trusted. 

"Just got here, myself," Neville said. "I was meeting with Jenkins and Malloy." 

"Do you think they'll do as Prefects?" Draco picked up his fork. 

"Undoubtedly. Oh, Draco. Harry's arrived." Neville leaned back a bit so they could see each other. 

"Wonderful. Welcome back to Hogwarts, Potter." And then Draco smiled at him. Smiled at him. Harry was sure that something was up. 

*

It was strangely easy to get into the rhythm of teaching at Hogwarts. After ten or twelve days, the novelty of being taught by the famous Harry Potter had completely worn off and his students looked on him as just another professor. Though, they didn't come to him when they had problems or needed coddling, like they did Neville, or fear him the way they did McGonagall. But he sat after lessons in his classroom, grading papers, then went to the Great Hall and ate alongside Neville and Draco. 

Everyone talked to Draco. They spoke of nothing and important things and told jokes. McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, even Hagrid. Like they had forgotten who he was. Maybe they had forgotten. But Draco had never been particularly good at memory charms, or any charms at all. Which was why Neville was teaching that subject instead of he. And Draco seemed to be attempting to chat with Harry. At dinner, he would ask how Harry's classes were going, make small talk about what Harry had been doing, invite Harry to join them for a drink. 

It was always them. Neville and Draco would retire to Draco's rooms down in the dungeons for a drink or a chat or something. Harry had quickly learned from Madam Pomfrey, who was still the storehouse of all school gossip ("Something about hospital wing makes people want to open up, Harry. God alone knows why. It isn't as if I ask them.") that Neville and Draco were most certainly not sleeping together. They were simply the tightest knit friends at Hogwarts. If everything about Draco hadn't set off warning bells before, that statement certainly did. 

*

Ron and Hermione came up to Hogsmeade the third weekend of the term to see how Harry was doing. After pleasantries were exchanged and they were settled down behind pints at the Three Broomsticks, Harry told them about Draco. "There's something not quite right here. Everyone's acting as though they've forgotten who he was." 

"Well, Harry," Hermione said pleasantly, "I don't like him anymore than you do, but he was on our side when it mattered." 

"He and Neville are best friends. Everyone's always talking to him, McGonagall, Pomfrey, even Hagrid." 

"People do change," she responded. Ron, for his part, looked vaguely angry, but even Harry could tell he wasn't sure why. "Maybe you should talk to Headmaster McGonagall. I mean, she has been there the whole time Draco has. Perhaps she could shed some light." 

*

It was what Hermione would have done, go straight to the Headmaster, but Harry thought that he had a better chance of catching Draco in the act. Four weeks into the term and he'd decided that something was definitely up with Draco. Harry invited Sara Malloy, Gryffindor prefect and sure bet for Head Girl next year, to tea in his office and she reported that the students actually quite liked Professor Malfoy. There were all sorts of horror stories still lingering in the halls about Professor Snape, so the students were glad not to have him. Professor Malfoy, she said, pushed the students, but never had unreasonable expectations, and was quite a lot of fun in class. Harry shuffled her out as soon as her cup was drained. 

*

Draco had the whole castle fooled. Harry reminded himself that Tom Riddle had had the whole school fooled as well, as he unpacked his father's Invisibility Cloak. 

The plan was this, he would stash the Cloak near the door to his classroom, which was on the path Draco and Neville would take back to the dungeon. He'd leave dinner first, then be ready to follow them and slip into Draco's rooms unnoticed. 

When they walked by the door the next night, just as Harry had planned, they were talking about how Neville's grandmother was doing. As he followed them down into the dungeons, that progressed into a humorous anecdote about a first-year in one of Draco's classes and an answering anecdote from Neville about the same student. Draco opened the door to his rooms and Harry, waiting by the wall, had slipped in first and found a spot near the hearth that looked fairly safe before Draco had even had a chance to light the candles. Neville tossed his cloak over a chair while Draco poured drinks and they kept chatting, now about perhaps going to Diagon Alley for supplies in a couple of weekends. 

It got more boring from there. Draco and Neville seemed to be having a fine time, chatting and drinking, but Harry was bored stiff. He didn't hear a single thing that night about Draco's Dark plan. Never to be discouraged, Harry kept on trailing Draco whenever he could, from breakfast to his first class (because Harry didn't teach until later), after classes into his office (where Draco mostly graded essays and wrote out his lesson plan), then after lunch either to Neville's, or back to the dungeon. One evening, Harry thought he had finally hit the jackpot when Draco took a different route after his classes, but it turned out he was only going to have tea with the Headmaster and all Harry got was a pain in his back from crouching behind an armchair. It was almost Christmas holidays and not a single bad thing had happened, no Dark symbols had appeared on campus, no gruesome deaths in the surrounding countryside, no Muggle-born student had fallen mysteriously ill, except for Cassandra McDonald, but that had proven to be merely an excess of sweets at Halloween, despite Harry's demands that Madam Pomfrey check the girl again and again. Once Draco was asleep in bed each night, Harry returned to his own rooms and tried to figure out when he was doing it, when he'd have the time, between his classes and convincing everyone that he was their friend. What part of the puzzle could Harry be missing? 

*

Harry didn't get to track Draco one Tuesday afternoon when Headmaster McGonagall invited him to tea. "Harry," she said quietly, even though they were up in her office and the door was closed, "I have to admit, I'm a bit worried about you." 

"Worried? About me? Why?" 

"Well, you were always so outgoing when you were a student. You don't seem to be ... well, you don't seem to be making friends here, Harry. Even Hagrid says you haven't been down once to see him." 

Harry's response was a mumbled, "I meant to." 

"I just wanted to make sure that you felt welcome here. That there isn't something wrong." 

He thought about telling her about Draco, trying to make her see that something had to be going on, but in the end, he simply shook his head and finished his tea. 

*

Neville went home the next weekend for his grandmother's birthday and McGonagall volunteered Harry to accompany him to the train station, with the little smile that meant she thought she was helping. She wasn't helping. That was a minimum of two hours for Draco to unleash a monster or perform Dark spells or something. 

Neville was pleasant on the carriage ride down, trying his hardest to make conversation, and Harry did his best to not think of the unspeakable horror Draco was at that moment probably wreaking on Hogwarts and instead respond in kind. He saw Neville onto the train and then took the carriage back to the castle alone. 

Harry had already missed dinner, so hopefully Draco would be back in his rooms. Harry went to his classroom for his Invisibility Cloak, then went as quickly as he could without being noticed through the halls and down to the dungeons. Draco's solid oak door seemed warded against Eavesdropping Charms, but if Harry pressed his ear to it, he could hear movement, muffled, and something else, perhaps talking. He pulled off the cloak so that he could press his ear right up against the wood and it sounded like a woman, definitely a woman, but no response from Draco at all. Someone was walking around in there, then the walking stopped for a while. Harry crouched there, listening, while the woman's voice chirped away, though he couldn't make out the words. A chair scraped against the floor, and Harry pressed harder, hoping to catch something important. 

The next thing he knew, the door was wide open, he had only just managed to keep his feet, and Draco Malfoy was staring down at him in a jumper, slacks, and no shoes. "You're in love with me." 

Harry stood straight up. "Excuse me?" He was sure he looked absolutely outraged. He felt absolutely outraged. 

"Come off it, Potter. No shame in it. You're in love with me." Draco, on the other hand, looked amused. Now that he could see in, it seemed that Draco was alone. The woman's voice was coming from the Wireless and she was droning on about entertaining for the holidays. 

"I have no idea what led you to that conclusion, Malfoy," he tried to make the name drip with hatred. 

"You've been following me around. For weeks now." Harry went dead still. "Come on, Harry. I've known about your little Cloak for years, and there is very often a big track through the dust behind me." 

"I," Harry began, suddenly indignant. In love with Malfoy! It was insane. Harry was merely trying to prove that Malfoy was up to no good. 

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Harry. I probably should have said something weeks ago, but I didn't think you would go this long without saying anything. Following me and Neville down here every night, instead of off with your own friends." 

Harry could feel himself turning absolutely red. Draco Malfoy was as misinformed as he was evil. "Now listen here, Malfoy..." But before he could finish, Draco's hand had cupped the back of Harry's neck and drawn him in for a kiss, a long, dirty kiss with Draco's tongue pressing into the farthest reaches of Harry's mouth, and then running away so that Harry's tongue had no choice but to follow it. Before Harry could lodge another protest, Draco was dragging him back into the warm room he'd spent so much of his fall hiding in, and the door was swinging shut behind them.


End file.
